Arizonans will hit the road for Labor Day weekend

PHOENIX — The majority of Arizonans who are planning to travel this Labor Day weekend will be taking road trips.

According to AAA, nearly 700,000 Arizonans are planning to head out of town for the weekend, including almost 600,000 of whom will be driving.

“Typically, road trips tend to be the most popular,” spokeswoman Stephanie Dembowski said. “In fact, we’re anticipating that 83 percent of Arizonans who say that they will travel are planning to drive.”

Gas prices are 13 cents higher than last Labor Day, but consumer confidence has also risen.

“That has led to more spending which is always good news for travel,” Dembowski said. “When people have more disposable income, they’re more likely to take trips over holiday weekends.”

The auto club predicted the most popular travel destination for the holiday will be California.

“California is probably the top one,” she said. “Mexico has still been popular this summer and then just across the state, people like to use these weekends to go someplace different.”

The good news? The Arizona Department of Transportation said Wednesday it had no scheduled freeway closures over the holiday weekend.

Instead of focusing on construction, ADOT said it plans to up Arizona Department of Public Safety patrols during busy travel times, specifically Friday and Monday afternoons. The safety campaign will target the stretch of Interstate 17 between Black Canyon City and Camp Verde, south of Flagstaff and Sedona.

The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety will spearhead a holiday DUI task force.